Bewengung Auf
by Valkyrie's Emblem
Summary: "Moving On." Mikkel and Berwald have centuries of fighting to get over. Ludwig can't forgive himself for what he's done. And Vash honestly feels like shooting all three of them. No pairings and human names used.
1. One: Finding Out

**Because all the Germanics are screwed up. It runs in the family.**

 **So, this is somewhat of a sequel to** ** _Sammen Igjen,_** **though you don't necessarily have to read it to understand this story. (It would be nice, though.) The title means "Moving On" in German.**

 **The time frame will mostly be the 1950s. This will mostly be about Germany being forced to overcome his massive guilt complex after WWII, Denmark and Sweden trying to start acting like brothers again, and Switzerland doing his best not to shoot them. Austria and Liechtenstein will show up at some point too.**

 **It doesn't follow Hetalia canon 100%. For example, Denmark is one of the Germanics in this, and apparently Sweden is the only Nordic that is. I blame all of you people that make the two of them related in some way. There will be others, don't worry.**

 **For pairings, there will be Austria's angst over Hungary and the fact that Sweden calls Finland his wife, but the first will hopefully not be too noticeable and you can interpret the second however you want to.**

 **Oh, and while it's not really relevant, I support the Germany is HRE theory, which is why he's considered their brother unlike Liechtenstein.**

 **The Germanics from oldest to youngest with human names:**

 **Prussia- Gilbert Beilschmidt  
Denmark- Mikkel Køhler  
Switzerland- Vash Zwingli  
Sweden- Berwald Oxenstierna  
Bohemia/Czechoslovakia/Czech Republic- Aneta Cech  
Austria- Roderich Edelstein  
Germany- Ludwig Beilschmidt**

 **Also relevant:**

 **Liechtenstein- Erika "Lili" Vogel  
Hungary- Erzsébet Héderváry  
America- Alfred F. Jones  
Norway- Lukas Bondevik  
Iceland- Eiríkur Steilsson  
Finland- Timo (can't spell his last name and am too lazy to find it)**

 **There will be more. And a few of those characters obviously won't be showing up for a while due to the time period.**

 **Finally, I speak English, am learning Norwegian, and fail at French. I know no German, Danish, Swedish, or whatever other languages may show up. If you speak one of those four languages and notice I got something wrong, please tell me. I won't get mad. In fact, I will thank you.**

 **Disclaimer: This would be canon if I owned Hetalia. Please tell me if it ever does so I can collect the money.**

* * *

 **Bewengung Auf**

 **One: Finding Out**

Vash muttered under his breath in German, French, Italian, and Romansh about how much he's had to pay for gas as he slammed the door to his car.

 _Why did I have to be nice and let Lili go visit Roderich?_ The image of when he had seen the Austrian at that meeting came to mind. _...Never mind. If having her there will help him actually... what's the word..._ function, _that'll be good. Not that I care,_ he backtracked as he knocked on the door. _Roderich just shouldn't look like a hobo, that's all._

Ignoring the voice that said he cares about his second-youngest brother, Vash knocked again. After a minute, he got annoyed and yelled, "Oi, Ludwig, open the door! I better not have driven all the way for nothing! OPEN THE DOOR!"

Thankfully, before the Swiss man finally just kicked the door down, it opened, revealing a tall blond with gravity-defying hair. "Hej Vash! How's it going?"

Vash blinked. "Mikkel? What are you doing here?"

The Dane's smile fell from his face, though he made a valiant effort to place it back on his face to fool his younger brother.. "Um... you know... I was in the neighborhood..."

"Copenhagen is nowhere near Bonn. Don't give me that crap."

Mikkel deflated. "I'm worried about Lud, okay! He apparently hasn't left the house for anything other than meetings with his bosses for years, and he's resisted every attempt that I've made to change that!"

Vash frowned. He knew his youngest brother had been having issues lately (understatement of the millennium), but something in the Dane's voice made him realize that it was worse than he had thought. "I didn't think it was that bad."

"You don't know the half of it," Mikkel said, stepping back to let him in.

The Swiss man walked in, but stopped dead upon entering the living room. "My God..." he whispered, shocked at the sight before him.

Usually, the German personification's houses were spotless, not one speck of dirt or dust anywhere to be found. That was definitely not the case now. Instead of the coffee table being stainless and having every little thing in order, there were magazines carelessly thrown on it and what looked like a beer stain on the wood. The couch wasn't much better. The throw pillows, usually carefully placed in the proper positions, were either missing or thrown carelessly on the floor. It looked like there was paint peeling from the wall, and nothing had been done to either stop or fix it. To top it all of, there were broken beer bottles thrown around everywhere.

"It was worse when I got here," he heard Mikkel mutter behind him in Danish.

The Swiss man just turned around to stare at the Dane in horror, unable to find words to say what was on his mind.

After a few minutes, he finally asked, "Where is Ludwig?"

Mikkel hesitated for a moment, saying, "Um, you sure you want to see him?"

"That is what I came here to do."

The Dane sighed before saying, "Don't say I didn't warn you," and gesturing for Vash to follow him into the dining room.

As Vash followed him, he realized that they weren't the the only two making noise in the house. He could hear someone choke out "Warum?" over and over again, voice full of guilt and remorse.

 _"Why?"_

As he had thought, it was Ludwig. Seeing him, disheveled, hair not slicked back and hanging loosely in his face, hands clutching onto a bottle of beer for dear life... it made Vash feel like tearing whoever did this to his brother apart.

Mikkel didn't pause like the Swiss man did, probably having seen him like this too many times to count, instead walking over to their youngest brother, placing his hand on his shoulder, and saying, "Hey, Lud? Vash is here to visit."

Instead of looking up, Ludwig shook his head, saying, "No, he's not."

"I am," Vash said awkwardly, not having any idea about what to say. "Look... I don't know what to say that won't seem like I'm going to yell at you."

The German finally looked up at him at that, some hope appearing in his eyes, though it looked like he was attempting to dispel it. "You're not?"

"I..." Vash began, biting his lip before sighing and saying, "Look, I wouldn't pay all that money for gas just to yell at someone. Such a waste of money, if you ask me."

He wished that he could say what he really meant, but Ludwig seemed to understand that that was Vash-speak for "I'm not going to yell at you because I have nothing to yell at you for" and let his lips rise a few millimeters, giving something like a smile.

Mikkel smiled. "See, Lud? I told you that me and America weren't the only ones!"

"Yeah... you did..."

Vash gave the second-oldest Germanic a questioning look, confused at what he meant, but didn't get an explanation.

Instead, Mikkel asked, "Hey Vash, how long are you staying?"

The Swiss personification shrugged, asking, "Why?"

"Well... I'm heading to Svalbard and was wondering if you were going to stick around for awhile."

 _In other words, you're begging me to watch him for awhile and attempting not to let that on,_ Vash thought. He sighed. "I don't have any meetings, so I can probably stick around for a couple days, I guess." Another part of what he had said occurred to him. "Where's Svalbard?" The name sounded somewhat familiar, like he had heard it in passing at some point.

"It's part of Norway..." Mikkel said. Vash stared at him, an eyebrow raised, wanting to know why he was going there. "I'm meeting the other four Nordics there 'cause my boss wants us to have better relations. Anyway, I wish I could stay, but I have to catch the boat to Bergen. I'll see you guys later!" After giving them tight hugs, the Dane left.

A minute later, Vash stated, "'My boss wants us to have better relations'. Yeah, right. It was your idea."

Ludwig nodded in agreement.

The awkward silence that ensued was thankfully broken by the phone. Vash looked at the German and asked, "You going to answer that, or should I?"

Ludwig just gestured for him to.

The Swiss got to the phone and answered it just before the last ring died. "Ja? Who is it?"

The person who answered was quite possibly one of the last people he had expected. "Switzerland? What are you doing at Ludwig's?"

"America?"

"Yep, the one and only!"

Vash shook his head in wonder. "I'm visiting. Why are you calling?"

Silence. "I'm worried about him," the American finally said. "Mikkel said that he was going somewhere and I wasn't sure when he was so I called to see if he was here and maybe talk to Ludwig."

"Since when are you on first name basis with the two of them?"

"Mikkel and I got drunk together and I heard about everything from him. He suggested that calling Ludwig by his human name might help me get through to him a bit."

"Has it helped?"

"I wish."

Vash sighed. "Look, I really don't want to ask, but... is there anything I can do to help?"

The neutral nation couldn't believe that those words had come out of his mouth. Was he seriously asking _America_ for help?

However, the American jumped at the chance to help. "Well... I haven't been around him much, but from what Mikkel said, he has nightmares. And they're bad."

"What kind of nightmares?"

"...You can probably guess..."

He could, and he didn't like it. "How often?"

"Um... pretty much every night, from what he said."

Vash cursed. "Great. How am I supposed to deal with _that?_ I can't comfort people!"

"Well, usually when one of my st- I mean Mattie has nightmares, just someone being there for them can help."

"I doubt that will work."

"You never know. Anyway, I have to go. If you need anything, just ask me."

"Sure, whatever." On that note, he ended the call, sighing and sitting down on the couch.

What was he supposed to do? He couldn't even comfort Lili when she had nightmares and those weren't anywhere close to common. America's suggestion was somehow the best he had gotten, and he wouldn't be able to keep that up unless he brought him home with him.

Vash paused. _Why don't you do that?_ a part of his mind asked.

 _That would just make things worse._

 _Things_ can't _get worse._

The Swiss man sighed. It really couldn't.

As much as he tried to pretend otherwise, he cared about his family, even Roderich. He wouldn't have let Lili go stay with him for a while if he didn't deep down.

 _Mikkel said he couldn't get him to leave? Well, he wasn't trying hard enough. After I get in touch with his boss, Ludwig is going to Bern whether he wants to or not._

* * *

 **Translations:**

 **Hej (Danish) - Hi**

 **Warum (German) - Why**

 **Ja (German, Danish, Swedish, Dutch, Norwegian) - Yes**

 **Yeah, this really was just more of a prologue than anything.**

 **Note: Bonn was the "temporary" capitol of West Germany, since having your entire government meeting in West Berlin might have caused problems. I can't remember if it was like this in 1951, when this chapter takes place, but whatever.**

 **Fun fact: while Copenhagen isn't really close to Bonn, it would probably take less time to get there than it would for me to get to the beach. The US is bigger than you think.**

 **Some of you probably think that Vash is out of character. He might be, to be perfectly honest. However, I see him as someone who really does care for his family but won't/has no idea how to show it. I mean, look at his relationship with Lili. Someone that truly hates everyone wouldn't take her in, especially if he had been going through tough times.**

 **I also don't think Mikkel is a complete idiot, and he does realize what's going on with his family and friends and tries to do everything he can to help them. I also think that the years he's fought with Berwald has taken a toll on him, which is a major part of _Sammen Igjen_ and this story.**

 **And let's face it: Ludwig was a mess after WWII. There's no real way he wasn't.**

 **Don't worry, things will look up for them. Eventually. It'll take awhile.**

 **On a completely other topic, anyone want to explain what exactly "Romansh" is? I know it's one of Switzerland's four official languages, but other than that I know nothing, and I don't want to go look at Wikipedia.**


	2. Two: Attempted Comfort

**A bit of warning: there will be some vague mentions to some of the more... horrible parts of Nazi policy, though I've tried my best to skirt around it. Just thought I'd warn you.**

 **In other news, I have decided that Ludwig weighs a lot. Not because he's fat, but because of all those muscles. I mean, _look_ at them. He's like a bodybuilder in The Beautiful World, and even before that he was ripped.**

 **Moving on now...**

 **Also, I seem to have forgotten to put Vash as a character. *Headdesk* That's fixed now.**

* * *

 **Two: Attempted Comforting**

Mikkel had apparently been over exaggerating when he said he wasn't able to get Ludwig to go anywhere.

Then again, he probably didn't forcibly drag the German to his room, force him to pack enough clothes for at least a month, and shove him into the car.

Vash was nice like that.

Anyway, unfortunately for the Swiss man, Ludwig was asleep by the time they had gotten to his house in Zurich, which meant he had to somehow drag the muscle-head to a guest room.

Vash groaned in aggravation, slamming his head onto the steering wheel before looking over at his youngest brother. Ludwig... didn't look very relaxed in sleep, but it didn't seem like he was having a nightmare at the moment, and he didn't really want to ruin that right now.

Leaving the German in the car for the moment, the Swiss nation got both his and Ludwig's bags out of the car and taking them in, placing Ludwig's in his guest bedroom on the first floor before heading back to the car to begin lugging the muscle-head in.

Unfortunately for Vash, even the best mental preparation wouldn't be enough. He was almost crushed before he managed to catch himself, cursing loudly enough to wake the neighbors, but apparently not Ludwig, who didn't even stir. Vash probably should've taken that as a bad sign since he was usually a light sleeper, but he was too busy attempting not to black out to pay any attention.

Five minutes of pure agony later, the Swiss man collapsed on the couch, groaning and cursing his brother's muscles. Seriously, were they really necessary? One didn't have to be that ripped to hold a pistol or rifle or whatever one felt like using.

Though he felt like just falling asleep on the couch, he forced himself to go into his kitchen and get himself a sandwich. While in the process of making it, what he had just done finally hit him.

Why in the world did he bring Ludwig back to his place? He couldn't comfort people! Lili could testify that. Sure, she said that it is the thought that counts and the important thing was that he tried, something that America, of all people, had endorsed, but he wasn't sure that he really believed them. (There was also the fact that he didn't completely trust America. To be fair, he didn't really trust anyone.)

Well, it was too late now. Ignoring the fact that he had already told both America and the German government where the personification of Germany was, there was no way on Earth he was dragging the muscle-head back into the car.

(The Swiss man ignored the part of his mind that said he would never be able to do that to his youngest brother and _wanted_ to comfort him, even if he didn't have a clue how to.)

After eating his sandwich where he was standing and obsessively cleaning up any crumbs (he may not be anywhere near as OCD as Ludwig and Gilbert usually were, but he couldn't _stand_ crumbs), he dragged himself to his room, barely managing to pull on his pajamas and make sure his rifle was within reach before falling asleep.

* * *

He was rudely awakened less than an hour later by screaming.

Vash was out of bed, rifle in hand before he recognized the voice. Without any hesitation- something that surprised him later- he dropped the gun on his bed and ran out the door following the screams. He forced the door to the guest room and rushed to the bed.

Ludwig was sobbing, flailing around as if to fight off . "Stopp! Sie schaden nicht!"

 _Don't hurt them!_

Vash started shaking the German, trying to wake him, but he was unconsciously fighting him off, most likely thinking him to be one of those pathetic excuses of breathing _things_ he was hallucinating in his nightmare.

"Sie haben nichts zu tun! _Bitte hören Sie auf!"_

The Swiss man, fed up and terrified for his brother, finally slapped him and yelled, "Get up you idiot! It's not real!"

Thankfully, that woke him up. Ludwig stared at his brother, uncomprehending for a moment before realizing what had happened, clutching onto him as the tears started falling again.

Vash awkwardly patted his back, having absolutely no idea what to do. He was the worst Germanic to turn for comfort. Even _Vater_ had been better at giving comfort to them, and considering that he had been _Germania..._

After what felt like hours, Ludwig finally let go, awkwardly rubbing his eyes. "Do you want to talk about it?" Vash asked, mentally hitting himself for asking that.

"Why?" the German whispered, almost as if he didn't even realize he had said anything. "They were innocent. Why did that happen? How could they have done that to them?"

Oh. _Oh._ So that's what the nightmare had been about. _Great. Just great. Of all the things for him to dream about, it had to be_ that. "There was nothing you could do-"

"Don't give me that crap! There was plenty I could have done! I could have not listened to that man! I could have..."

Vash slammed his hand against Ludwig's mouth, cutting him off. "Shut up! I heard that man's speeches and while I will never condone what he did, I unfortunately have to give him credit for being a good speaker. You weren't the only one taken in by that.

"Besides," the Swiss man continued, "you weren't really the 'perfect Germany' that man wished for. You protected both Aneta and Gilbert, both of whom that man didn't like for hateful and prejudiced reasons. From what I've heard, you had many chances to capture another nation, didn't you?"

Ludwig slowly nodded. "The only one I never could figure out where he generally was was Norway," he whispered.

"Yeah, he can use magic, and not the crap England attempts to do, plus he was apparently in Iceland the entire time. I think. Either way it's not exactly surprising. Anyway, the point is you could have caught one of them at some point. You never did. So quit acting like everything was your fault. Some idiots may act like it is, but they're idiots and you shouldn't listen to them. Understand?"

Ludwig stared at him for a minute before looking down and slowly nodding. "I guess..."

Vash sighed. He didn't believe him. To be honest, he didn't really expect him to, not after seeing just how bad this had affected him. He hoped that at least _something_ he had said had gotten into his thick head.

 _"Thank you."_

"For what?" Vash asked.

"For caring," Ludwig answered. "It seems like... like no one other than Mikkel and Alfred... cared about me, how I was."

The Swiss cursed himself for not visiting or reaching out earlier, though he thanked both of them for trying to help they youngest Germanic through this, mentally reevaluating his opinion of the American.

He tuned back in just in time to hear him say, "I'd be far worse off if it wasn't for Mikkel almost moving in every few weeks and Alfred calling every other day."

Vash made a mental note to thank the two of them the first chance he had. Mikkel would be the easiest, since he had apparently been visiting often and he had left a note for him. America was harder since he had no easy way to talk to him, but he'd figure out something.

"Um, Vash?"

"What?"

"...Are you wearing pink pajamas?"

"It was a gift from Lili. They're comfortable."

"I'm sure they are..."

"Are you laughing at me?"

"No..."

Vash glared at Ludwig, though he couldn't bring himself to put any force behind it, happy that Ludwig was amused at something after that horrible episode earlier.

That didn't mean he liked it, though.

* * *

 **Translations: (All German)**

 **Stopp! Sie schaden nicht! - Stop! Don't hurt them!**

 **Sie haben nichts zu tun! - They didn't do anything!**

 **Bitte hören Sie auf! - Please stop!**

 **Vater - father**

 **(Please tell me if they're wrong... I did get them from a German-only translator I found on my phone, but I do not have much faith that it is...)**

 **-Mini rant about stupid stereotypes about Germany ahead-**

 **Why in the world does everyone think that Germany is still full of Nazis? It's been sixty years since WWII ended, people! That flag and other assorted symbols are banned there, and you can't say the same thing here in the US and some other Western countries. There are stereotypes and then there's complete and utter _ignorance._ It's not like WWII is the only thing or even most recent thing that comes up in history about Germany, people. We all know about the Cold War. ****Yes, German does sound like someone's yelling at you and can just plain out sound funny. That does not mean they're still Nazis.**

 **-Rant over-**

 **So. I'm not going with the whole "Ludwig was 100 percent a Nazi" thing some people apparently like to do. I just think he had been taken in by Hitler like the majority of Germany was and becoming more and more disillusioned over the next decade or so.**

 **As for why they probably didn't like Gilbert or Aneta, think about it. Gilbert is albino, and Aneta doesn't look very 'Aryan' plus they considered any Slavic people (including Czechoslovakia) to be 'inferior'.**

 **I also don't think he really tried looking for any other nations, but that's just me. (At least agree with me that he would've stopped even acting like he was looking for Norway after he and Gilbert got attacked by a clan of trolls, though.**

 **Anyway, that's just my headcanon. Feel free to disagree.**


	3. Three: Awkward Conversations

**I forgot to mention this in chapter 1, but this story starts around the end of June 1951. This chapter takes place around the end of July, j** **ust so you know the general time frame.**

 **Also, this chapter and the rest of the story now actually takes place after Sammen Igjen. So if you get confused go read that. I will be nice and say that Mikkel and Berwald decided to go visit Ludwig after they got back from Svalbard, though.**

 **I WILL NOT BE DOING THE STUPID ACCENT/WAY OF SPEAKING/WHATEVER BERWALD DOES. DO NOT EVEN BOTHER ASKING WHY I AM NOT DOING IT.**

* * *

 **Three: Awkward Conversations**

"I'll see you on New Year's Eve, m' wife."

"I'm not a girl!"

Mikkel snickered at Berwald and Timo. There were some things that stopped being funny after awhile. Berwald insisting on calling Timo his wife and the Fin objecting was not one of them.

Tuning out of their conversation, the Dane thought about what he was about to do. Was he really going to go on a road trip with Berwald? Yeah, they were hopefully starting to get along better, but were they really ready for this? What had he been thinking when he suggested this? It was going to blow up in his face!

"See you later Mikkel!"

He snapped out of his thoughts upon hearing Timo. "I'll see you in December, Finny!" he smiled, giving Timo a hug. (Not too long or tight though. He didn't feel like getting murdered by the nearby Swede.)

"I'll see you then! I'll try to call your number later!"

"I'll be waiting with bated breath!"

"Bye Berwald! See you guys later!" After giving Berwald another hug, Timo skipped off, leaving the two brothers alone.

After a bit of an awkward silence, Mikkel finally said, "So... our boat doesn't leave for a few hours... wanna go to a bar?"

"Sure."

Mikkel led the way to a small, nondescript bar a few streets away from the harbor and sat down at a small table by the wall before ordering some beer. (Both of them thanked the fact that they had bothered to learn how to fluently order drinks in Norwegian. And pretty much every other language in Europe.)

While waiting for their drinks to come, Berwald spoke up and asked, "Why'd you give Timo your telephone number?" Thankfully, he didn't seem mad or annoyed, just curious.

Mikkel shrugged. "He begged me for it. I overheard him asking Eiríkur for his, though he _apparently_ doesn't have one yet- a complete and utter lie, though I don't have his number either- and I assume he asked Lukas for his. He didn't ask you?"

"Already has mine."

"Oh."

After their drinks came, they sat in silence for a bit, though thankfully it wasn't as bad as other times during the past few weeks. Mikkel wanted to break it, but he couldn't figure out how.

He wished that Timo was still here. The Finn apparently didn't worry that he would say something that would cause a massive fight, unlike he was.

He was terrified that he would inadvertently trigger an argument like the one that had forced them apart over four centuries ago.

Thankfully, Berwald spoke up first. "You know how the others are?" he asked.

It took a moment for Mikkel to realize who he was talking about, but he quickly answered, "Vash is doing fine. He's as blunt as always. Roderich... well, he's doing better than what I heard about how he was after that first war, especially since apparently Lili has been staying with him for awhile. Gil is apparently as fine as he can be, from what I got from Ludwig after the last time he was allowed to see him. Apparently he said that Aneta is 'still being her somewhat less awesome than me self' and that she 'keeps challenging Poland to drinking contests and beating his butt'. I'm not sure how to interpret that. And I already told you about Lud."

Berwald didn't say anything, though the depressed look on his face said it all. "Should've visited before..." he muttered after a minute.

"Well, you're visiting now! And who knows? Maybe Aneta will be able to come visit at some point!" Mikkel optimistically said.

Berwald just shook his head. Annoyed, the Dane snapped, "Well, at least we're allowed to see our siblings, so quit acting like this was the same thing that happened last time."

The moment the words were out of his mouth, he froze, terrified that his brother would get angry at him. To his relief, the Swede reluctantly nodded, saying, "Can't believe I'm saying this, but you have a point."

"Why are you saying that like it's so shocking?!" Mikkel whined. Berwald just made a noise that sounded suspiciously like a snicker, forcing the Dane to look away for a minute to keep himself from throwing himself across the table to glomp his brother.

It wasn't much, but getting him to laugh at something he said was a major accomplishment in his eyes.

* * *

That was unfortunately the most progress they made the next few days as they made their way to Bonn.

Yes, they were actually talking- a fact that made Berwald happier than he had been for decades- but that didn't mean they had actually moved forward with repairing their relationship.

He privately thought that they should start talking about the past. Definitely not about the Kalmar Union or any of the horrible things that happened after it, though. He wasn't ready for that. He didn't know if he would ever be.

No, he was thinking they should talk about their shared memories of the times before that. Like when they had been raised by Vater and later Scandinavia, or when they had been Vikings and Mikkel had dragged both him and Lukas to England to bother him. The days that he was sure his two fellow Scandinavians longed for as much as he did.

But, as usual, he couldn't figure out what to say.

He was trying yet again to figure out how to bring it up when they finally pulled up to Ludwig's house. Mikkel jumped out of the car and ran to the door while Berwald took the time to actually park the car and turn it off. That done, he got out and found the Dane staring at a piece of paper stuck on the wall. Nudging his brother out of the way, he took down the sheet and read it.

 _Mikkel,_

 _I dragged Ludwig to my house in Zurich._

 _I guess you can come visit._

 _You'll just ignore me if I say you can't anyway._

 _Don't get arrested like last time._

 _I will not bail you out again._

 _Vash_

Berwald mentally counted down the seconds before Mikkel started whining.

"Come on Vash! You couldn't have told me? Seriously! Why are you so mean! You're meaner than Vati was!"

Mentally congratulating himself on still knowing exactly how the Dane reacts to things like this, Berwald dragged Mikkel back to the car, forced him into the passenger seat, started the car, and started driving to the Swiss city, all while ignoring the continuing whining from the Dane beside him.

* * *

They were around two-thirds of the way there when Mikkel was jolted awake due to Berwald slamming on the breaks.

"Jeg er vågen! Jeg er vågen!" he screamed, flailing around. Seeing Berwald rush out of the car, he asked, "Um, Berry? What are you doing?"

When the Swede ignored him (as usual), he got out of the car, seeing his brother crouching by a small puppy, petting it and attempting to make it calm down. "Stray," Berwald said, picking it up and walking back to the car.

"Um... I don't think that Timo or Hanatamago will appreciate you bringing a... Hovawart? back with you," Mikkel pointed out.

"Not for me or Timo," the Swede said, sitting back down and using his coat to try and get some of the dirt off.

"Who are you getting it for then?"

"Ludwig."

"Hvad."

* * *

 **Translations  
**

 **Vati (German) - Something like Daddy... I think**

 **Jeg er vågen! Jeg er vågen! (Danish) - I'm awake! I'm awake!**

 **Hvad (Danish) - What**

 **(Yes, I realize that Mikkel and Berwald should refer to their father as 'Far' or whatever they call their parent. However, their father was Germania, so I headcanon that all of the Germanics call him either 'Vater' or 'Vati'.)**

 **I feel so bad for all three of the Scandinavians, but especially for Mikkel and Berwald. Lukas at least has a good relationship with Eiríkur in my headcanon in this time period. The other pair of Nordic brothers don't. They both really want to get better, but Mikkel is terrified that he'll say something to push Berwald away again and Berwald can't figure out what to say.**

 **I also kind of like the idea that they sometimes think on the same wavelength, so to speak. They actually think more alike than they realize or want to admit.**

 **On a happier note, the puppy at the end is I believe Berlitz, one of Ludwig's three dogs. The other two will show up soon, I promise.**


	4. Four: Gifts

**Four: Gifts**

Ludwig still didn't know why Vash actually decided to drag him back to his home with him, but he was indebted to him regardless of his reasons.

He knew he had been a mess the past several years- wait, who was he kidding. He was _still_ a mess. First it had been his growing doubts about _dieser Mann_ the longer that blasted war dragged on, then it was finding out exactly what those pathetic things had been doing to his people for the crime of _existing,_ and finally it had been those _pathetisch Nationen_ that had decided to basically sentence his brother to death because of his crimes.

Thankfully, he had been able to save Gilbert by giving up some of his land to him, but then _Russland_ had taken him away, only allowing them to see each other once a year. If that wasn't bad enough, no one had had any contact with Aneta since the communists had seized control. Even if he was able to bring himself to apologize to his sister, he wouldn't be able to. The same went for the other nations behind that blasted 'Iron Curtain'. He couldn't look any of them in the face anyway, but knowing that he didn't even have the _option_ of apologizing...

The only countries actually involved in the war to even seem to _care_ how he was doing was Mikkel and Alfred. He would never be able to thank the two of them enough for reaching out to him and making sure that he didn't do anything he would regret, even if it would not be permanent.

When Mikkel said that he wouldn't be able to visit for a couple months because his boss, under his _own_ influence, decided to set up a meeting with the other four Nordics to 'improve relations between their countries' (he wondered why Mikkel even bothered trying to convince him he had nothing to do with it), he was admittedly a bit crushed. His second oldest brother's frequent visits were one of the two things that had been keeping him sane since the end of the war, and he was worried that just having Alfred call every other day wouldn't be enough.

Thankfully, Vash had, for some reason he doubted _anyone_ would ever be able to decipher, decided to bring him to his home in Zurich. As much as he didn't want to admit it, it was probably the best thing for him.

Just forcing him out of his house- something that Mikkel was a bit too nice to do- had been something that helped him more than anyone had probably expected. His mind also thanked Vash for his... interesting ways of waking him from a nightmare, though the rest of his body felt like giving the Swiss a taste of his own medicine.

There was also the fact that the Swiss nation made any visitors to his home help with any chores to pay for any expenses. That made certain that he couldn't just mope around all day.

He did wish that Lili was around, but he couldn't fault her for wanting to help Roderich. He'd be a hypocrite if he did.

Yes, he would never be able to repay Vash for helping him.

* * *

Ludwig was making dinner one night about three weeks after he had been dragged to Zurich when the door was slammed open by the second-oldest Germanic. "Vash! Why didn't you tell me that you dragged Lud with you back here?"

Sighing and taking off the pink apron Lili had given him as a gift several decades ago, Ludwig wiped his hands off and went into the hallway just in time to see Vash throw something at the Dane. "I left a note, Mikkel," the Swiss man said, glaring at him.

Mikkel just whined, saying, "But what if someone stole it? How would I know where he was then?"

"You could've just asked America. I told him."

"But what if-"

At that point, Mikkel was cut off by Berwald coming up behind him and slapping him on the head. "Park the car before getting out," the Swede said.

Mikkel blinked. "I thought I did..."

Instead of blowing up at him like the other two thought he would, Berwald just sighed, shocking both Ludwig and Vash. After nudging the Dane out of the doorway, he shut the door with one hand, keeping the other cradled around something covered with an orange piece of fabric. After a moment, he noticed Ludwig standing silently by the kitchen door. Mikkel didn't, having run off to use the bathroom.

After a moment of awkward silence, Berwald cleared his throat and said, "Hello, Ludwig."

"Berwald," Ludwig replied, not knowing what to say.

The German heard something come from whatever was in his arms and inquired, "What is that?"

"Gift," the Swede said, removing the fabric to reveal a puppy that he placed in his arms.

Ludwig stared at the black and god Hovawart, who stared back at him with wide eyes. After a moment, the puppy barked and licked his face while wagging his tail. Despite himself, he smiled a bit as he said, "Thank you."

"It was nothing," Berwald said. "Sorry I haven't visited before."

"It's fine," the German said, sitting down while petting the dog. "Have you named it yet?"

"Nej."

It was at that point that Vash spoke up. "One dog? One?"

The two nations and puppy stared at him, confused, though he didn't seem to notice as he grabbed his keys and walked out the door.

* * *

Mikkel sighed in relief as he exited the bathroom. Why there were not more places to stop on the road was a mystery and needed to be corrected for the sake of people all around the world.

He stopped dead at the entrance to the living room, shocked at the scene.

Ludwig was _smiling_ as he played with the puppy he and Berwald had found. Don't get him wrong, he was happy that the German seemed not to be wallowing in guilt at the moment, but it was still a bit shocking.

After a moment, he shook his head and smiled as he fully walked in the living room. "So, I guess Berry had a good idea when he picked up the puppy!"

"Stop calling me that," Berwald muttered, though the other two ignored him.

"Ja, I do," Ludwig said, rubbing the puppy's stomach, causing him to pant and wag his tail wildly. "Thank you again, Berwald."

"Don't have to thank me every other minute," the Swede muttered.

Mikkel sat down in front of his youngest brother and patted the Hovawart on his head. "You named it yet?"

Ludwig nodded. "He's Berlitz."

"Nice name!" After a minute of admiring the newly named Berlitz, he suddenly realized someone was missing. "Where'd Vash go?"

"I don't know," the German said at the same time that Berwald shrugged.

Ludwig suddenly frowned. "I need to finish dinner," he said, though it was clear that he didn't want to leave Berlitz yet.

"I know! I'll make dinner while-"

"Nej."

"Nein."

Mikkel blinked at the vehement objections he received. "But-"

"I'll make it," Berwald said, getting up and walking to the kitchen.

Mikkel proceeded to pout for precisely eighteen seconds before Berlitz regained his attention, causing the Dane to coo in Danish about how cute he was.

* * *

Vash finally came back after they had eaten dinner, placing a basket with two more puppies- a German Shepherd and a Dachshund- in front of Ludwig. "There. He has friends now."

The other three looked at him, confused out of their minds. "Um... Vash, why did you get two more puppies?" Mikkel asked.

The Swiss rolled his eyes. "Animals need friends. I was going to just get one, but then one of them wouldn't have a friend, so you get two. You're welcome."

On that note, he turned and walked into the kitchen to get himself some food, leaving his brothers to realize, yet again, exactly how weird he was.

* * *

 **Translations:**

 **Dieser Mann (German) - That man**

 **Pathetisch Nationen (German) - Pathetic nations**

 **Russland (German) - Russia**

 **Nej (Swedish) - No**

 **Nein (German) - No**

 **Remember when Vash said "Don't take any wild animals, even if they're cute. And if you do then take two because they deserve to have friends"? That and finding out that it's illegal to have only one guinea pig in Switzerland made me think up the scene where he is so annoyed that Ludwig only got one dog that he goes out and finds another two puppies.**

 **Oh, and Ludwig is not 100 percent better. He's getting there, but he still has a long way to go.**

 **I also don't believe Gilbert is dying. My headcanon is, instead of just becoming East Germany, Ludwig actually gave part of his land to him, making them both personifications of Germany in the present day, like how there's two Italies.**

 **I also came up with the idea that Ludwig came up with the one argument that would get Russia to listen to him: he doesn't want to be separated from his brother. As crazy as Russia is, especially in this time period, what he said made him think of how he'd feel if he was in his shoes, making him give permission for the two of them to meet once a year in East Berlin.**

 **You guys may disagree, but this is just how I see it.**

 **You know, I really don't like this chapter. I'm sorry for not updating this and the giving you this. Next chapter will be better, I promise.**


	5. Five: Making Plans

**Five: Making Plans**

Vash was confused, something that didn't happen very often.

Of all the outcomes he had imagined of how that meeting Mikkel had mentioned with the other Nordics would end, Mikkel and Berwald getting along was not one of them.

It was bad of him, but he hadn't expected them to be interacting with and not attempting to kill each other after just one week.

Don't misunderstand, the Swiss man was a bit uncomfortable while watching the two of them awkwardly interact with each other, but that was more progress than the past few centuries, even with some subtle nudges from the other five Germanics. (Or not so subtle, he amended, thinking of that one incident where Aneta tried to lock them in the same room after getting sick of them.)

 _What happened in Svalbard?_ Vash asked himself as he watched the two of them argue about coffee the next morning. Figuring that he wouldn't get an answer from either of them, he left the kitchen and strode into his living room, finding Ludwig on the floor, playing with the three puppies he had been given the prior day. "Did you name the other two yet?" he asked, startling the German.

"Um... Yes," Ludwig said, recovering from his surprise fairly quickly. Pointing to the German Shepard, he said, "Her name is Aster," and then pointed to the Dachshund and said, "He is Blackie."

"Blackie is sort of a feminine name," the Swiss pointed out, kneeling and patting Berlitz on the head when the dog came over and pawed at his foot.

The German shrugged. "Seemed to fit. You don't usually see black Dachshunds."

"Why do you think you got two?" Vash said, scowling upon remembering the reason why Blackie was at the pet shop despite being a few months old and how cheep he was. (Though that last fact, as insulting to the dog as it was, was definitely a good thing for his wallet and cheep nature.)

Changing the subject, he asked, "Did Mikkel say anything to you about what happened while he was gone? Or just why he and Berwald are finally getting along?"

"Not much, though I didn't pry," Ludwig said, returning his attention to his dogs. "He did say he wished 'his boss had suggested doing this earlier'-" Vash joined him in rolling his eyes- "and that he was happy he was able to apologize to both Berwald and Norway for what happened."

Vash almost didn't hear him softly whisper, "I wish I could do that..." though he didn't miss how he had gathered Aster into his arms and hugged her, causing Blackie and Berlitz to whine for attention, which he gave .

An idea forming in his head, he stood up and said, "Well, at least it didn't completely backfire on him," before walking back into the kitchen to find the two Scandinavians still arguing about coffee.

"You just don't like it 'cause Lukas and Eiríkur are addicted," Berwald was saying.

Mikkel glared at him. "You haven't seen the two of them on a bad morning. Seriously, you can tell they're related just from that fact."

The Swede took a sip of his coffee while rolling his eyes at his brother.

Mikkel pouted before finally noticing his younger brother and asking, "Hey, Vash, don't you agree with me that if there was one, Lukas and Eiríkur would worship the god or goddess of coffee?"

"I have never seen them drink coffee, so no," Vash replied. "Anyway, Ludwig said something that gave me an idea."

"What was it?" Berwald asked.

"He said he wished he could apologize to others for... you know. How horrible _that man_ was."

The neutral nation could see the two of them think about that. "Well..." the Dane began, "he did get to apologize to me..."

"He did, but you're his older brother and your country was actually treated well," Vash pointed out. "I mean he wishes he could talk to someone he's not related to and wasn't treated the best."

The two Scandinavians looked at each other, apparently having the same idea, though both seemed hesitant. "Well... I don't think he'd set a clan of trolls on him again..." Mikkel said.

Berwald slowly nodded. "Wouldn't," he agreed. "Though he's not the one that really holds grudges."

"Who holds- oh yeah..."

Vash finally cut in and asked, "Who are you talking about?"

"Lukas," Berwald answered.

"Would've though the trolls would've given away..." Mikkel muttered.

Vash thought about that. He didn't know Norway that well, but he had the impression that if he really wanted to get revenge on Ludwig he would have by now. Also, either Berwald or Mikkel would be able to get in touch with him fairly easily, and he seemed like someone that would at least listen to what someone said. He wasn't sure if the Norwegian would be amiable to talking to Ludwig, but it was a start at least.

Not wanting to appear to agree easily, the Swiss man sighed and said, "I can't believe you two came up with a good idea. Though I want to know who holds grudges if it's not Norway."

"Eiríkur- Iceland- does." Mikkel said, then added softly, "Especially if it has to do with his older brother..."

Vash noticed that Berwald joined the Dane in looking remorseful about something, but didn't know why and realized that it may not be a good idea to bring it up, so he didn't say anything.

Instead, he said, "So, ask Norway to keep Iceland from interacting with Ludwig. When do you think you'll be able to ask him to meet with our brother?"

"Don't have his number or any meetings with him anytime soon, so probably New Year's," Mikkel said.

"Why New Year's?"

"Going to his house for that," Berwald answered.

Vash nodded. "Ask if he'll talk to him before the Olympics start. It'll save me from having to pay for more than one trip."

"England, France, and some other nations will be there," the Swede warned.

"We'll just say that they actually saw you if they ask," Mikkel said, brushing away his concerns. "I mean, you two look almost identical if Lud doesn't slick his hair up, especially from a distance."

"Do not," Berwald denied.

"You two really do," Vash agreed. "Don't even try to deny it."

"What are you three talking about?"

They turned to see Ludwig standing in the door, the three puppies following him. "The fact that you and Berwald almost look like twins if you don't slick your hair back," Mikkel replied easily.

"We do not," the German sighed. "I am going to walk them and buy some food. I will see you in a bit."

Vash waited until they heard the door close before turning back to his brothers and asking, "So, do we all agree that you two will ask Norway if he will talk to Ludwig?"

Both of them nodded.

"Good. Also, Mikkel, coffee is amazing. Stop lying to yourself."

"Not you too!"

* * *

 **Translations: None.**

 **Why can't I make longer chapters? Seriously, why?**

 **Anyway, I know that Denmark is one of the biggest consumers of coffee in the world. However, I don't think that Mikkel likes coffee all that much for two reasons: one, he likes beer too much; and two, he has seen the horror that is Lukas and Eiríkur in the morning when the coffee's gone. Especially that last reason. He'll eventually warm up, but he still won't like it as much as the rest of the Nordics and most of the Germanics.**

 **Random coffee headcanons:**

 **Lukas and Eiríkur- As black as the Mariana Trench. Anything else is practically a crime in their eyes.  
Berwald- Lots of sugar. And I mean lots.  
Vash- A lot of milk he gets from his goats and cream.  
Ludwig- A tiny bit of sugar, milk, and cream, all in exact portions. If you don't put them in in exact portions, you face a very angry German.  
Timo- A bit of milk, unless he's hungover or didn't get much sleep, in which case straight black.**

 **You may have noticed that Mikkel and Berwald called Lukas and Eiríkur by their human names, while Vash and Ludwig used their nation names. My headcanon is that if they're close and/or related, they automatically get to use their human names. Since Mikkel and Berwald (mostly) patched things up with them, they feel they can call them their names again. Vash and Ludwig aren't close to them, so they don't.**

 **Finally, the 1952 Winter Olympics were held in Oslo, which is why Vash wants to only make one trip to Norway.**

 **Anyway, sorry it took awhile. I've been busy for awhile and haven't had much time to write.**


End file.
